Following in the footsteps of the Taliban, whose destruction of a World Heritage site is now legendary, members of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb have desecrated a saint's tomb in the fabled city of Timbuktu, an act condemned by Malian authorities as "unspeakable." From AFP/Al Arabia:

"Members of AQIM, supported by (the armed Islamist group) Ansar Dine, have destroyed the tomb of Saint Sidi (Mahmoud Ben) Amar. They set fire to the tomb," an official told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that they had pledged to destroy others too.

Timbuktu, a UNESCO World Heritage site and cradle of Islamic learning, has been under the control of AQIM and Ansar Dine since the groups took advantage of a March 22 coup to take control of northern Mali.

Sometimes called the city of 333 saints, Timbuktu is also home to nearly 100,000 ancient manuscripts, some dating to the 12th century, preserved in family homes and private libraries under the care of religious scholars.

Beyond its historic mosques, the World Heritage site comprises 16 cemeteries and mausoleums, according to the UNESCO website.

It was also a renowned center of Islamic scholarship, with manuscripts written in Arabic and Fulani by scholars of the ancient Mali Empire, covering a range of subjects including Islam, history, astronomy, music, botany, genealogy and anatomy.

There is a long history of Islamic invaders appropriating, defacing, or destroying the religious items and sites of other faiths they come across. This time AQIM are attacking their own history. What little that isn't glossed over or re-written already to their liking anyways.

Islamic doctrine declares that any religious or cultural artifacts that predate the arrival of Islam are products of ignorance or confusion, and therefore should be destroyed or converted to Islamic purposes. Thus, churches become mosques, as in Istanbul, where the Hagia Sofia became the Grand Mosque, or they are torn down and the materials used to build other projects. Another requirement is that any remaining infidels must be made to feel the humiliation associated with submission to their Muslim masters, so any reuse of non-Muslim structures should reinforce this. That's why the Arabs in Jerusalem used the headstones from the Jewish cemeteries (some of which go back to Biblical times) to line latrines or pave roads. It is also why they desecrate any other religious shrines (for example, the Church of the Nativity was vandalized by Palestinians when they occupied it during the last Intifada), and since Sharia law forbids the repair of any church or synagogue, the desecration must stand. This also applies to any secular activities that do not meet with Islamic approval, including scientific investigation. Since Islam considers all actions in nature to be the will of Allah, rather than a cause and effect, any scientific development that presumes natural laws is blasphemous.

Next time you look at the skyline of an American city, ask yourself what the Muslims will do with those buildings if they get the chance.